Alma Hernandez was smiling, despite being surrounded by dust and piles of debris on a vacant lot in Socorro Monday morning.

REPORTER

María Cortés González

"The work is hard physically but we came here to be productive and to do a service for the community. And we feel good about it," said Hernandez, one of about 60 Americorps members who also volunteers with Avance, an educational program for low-income families.

The group was just one of more than a dozen organizations cleaning up two abandoned lots along Old Hueco Tanks Road in honor of Martin Luther King Day. Groups participating included the Texas Hunger Initiative, New York City Coalition Against Hunger, Eastlake High School, Irvin High School and Socorro city leaders.

Anibal Olague, special projects coordinator for the city of Socorro, said the groups contacted him looking for a way to commemorate the civil rights leader.

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"They came right on time because we've been looking at ways we can work together to help people in our city," he said.

Olague said other groups have recently been helping with clean up efforts in the areas that were flooded several months ago.

On Monday, organizers estimated about 150 volunteers of different ages were cutting down dead trees, picking up trash and other debris around two empty and graffiti-filled buildings.

Socorro City Council woman Gloria Macias Rodriguez, who also was helping, said she has been concerned about the abandoned lots since she was elected in 2010.

"We've written letters to the owners but we haven't gotten a response. We really want to bring a solution and really beautify our city," she said. "I really want to make a difference in my community, no matter if it's my district or not."

Macias Rodriguez said she would like to see the abandoned buildings condemned.

"It's important for the safety of our city and so that our children are not" drawn to illegal activity, she said.

Willie Norfleet Jr., city manager, was impressed with the hard work of the volunteers after a couple of hours. By then, a couple of dumpsters were filled with trash, weeds and debris.

"Can you believe all this? It's so great," he said, as volunteers continued to work.